Children can now have two lesbian mothers and no father on birth certificate

Children can legally have two lesbian mothers and no father under laws that
come into effect this week.

Women who undergo fertility treatment and their same-sex partners are now both allowed to register as parents on their baby’s birth certificates.

The move has been criticised for damaging the traditional notion of a family, which many people say is necessary for a healthy upbringing.

But ministers insist it is a step forward for equal rights.

Lord Brett, the Home Office Minister, said: “This positive change means that for the first time female couples who have a child using fertility treatment have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts to be shown as parents in the birth registration.

“It is vital that we afford equality wherever we can in society, especially as family circumstances continue to change. This is an important step forward in that process.”

Previously, IVF clinics had to consider the need for a father and the partners of women seeking treatment were considered as parents, even if they had no biological link to the baby. Women could not be named as parents if their partners gave birth after IVF.

But the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, which came into force earlier this year, removed the need for a father and granted lesbian couples equal rights as parents.

The Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations have been updated as a result, and from Monday both women can put their names on their child’s birth certificate if they have an IVF baby. However, only those who began treatment after April qualify so none of them will yet have given birth.

The Home Office said those who are civil partners “will be treated in the same way as married couples”.

Lesbian couples who are not in a civil partnership will also be allowed to sign birth certificates, as unmarried heterosexual couples are if they attend the local register office at the same time.

Lesbian couples must also tell the fertility clinic if they both want to be regarded as parents.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, led opposition to the move in the Commons.

He told MPs last year: "On the whole, the absence of fathers generally has a detrimental effect on the child."